Moving West

It's been so long since I wrote regularly here, I even had trouble signing in an figuring out how to make a post! Sad! But I've been thinking about coming back here more often...to write out some personal events and thoughts. Blogging is a great way after all to keep track of what's happening in your life and it's cool to read it back later. I've also met many great people by blogging.

As I always seem to say when I return here, I've been busy. Yeah, yeah, everyone's busy. I know. But being busy while so much is uncertain really sucks. Not having your own place, job, steady income, etc....that makes busy a bit more stressful. I've been keeping busy with finishing up the last of another 3-part series for a Korean publisher -- my last series -- and I'm serious! I'm done. The work isn't hard, but it's time consuming, and I can't qualify for daycare subsidies, it being income from out of country.

So, there are the books, and also the photography. I've actually been making headway in my community. I've gotten out to a networking event and happened to meet some great people. People are passing my name on, I feel my photography is improving and getting more consistent........and then..... I decide we're moving. We're going to head west to the city of Calgary. Everyone tells me there are so many more opportunities to be had there. My brother and best friend live there. They have offered to help us get settled and acquainted with the city. I am incredibly nervous, having already booked Grace and I one-way tickets, basically not knowing much about the city, no place to live, nothing...starting from square one. I'm hoping that it will be the right decision for the long-term. The Niagara Region, sadly, is becoming more and more depressed as more and more companies go out of business. Wages are low, taxes are high, jobs are hard to come by. Bye, Niagara.

So, we're here until August. I have a few more photo bookings (and all day wedding on Friday - yikes!), books to write, Grace is starting soccer on Saturday....lots to keep us BUSY.

But no matter how busy I get, I continue to knit whenever I can. It truly keeps me sane. Grace has been trying.

It's me!!

I have gotten email and Facebook messages about the lack of posting. I kept saying that I would make a comeback and do regular blogging here once again. The truth is, I don't know when that will be. We are still living with my parents in Niagara. I don't have a place that is truly my own. In Korea, I would often make blog posts a little too late at night, alone in our computer room while waiting for husband to come home from work with a roll of kimbap. Now, I find myself using my laptop (I miss my desktop!) on a way too small desk in my mom's sewing room. I know, things could be worse, but I just have not felt like doing much personal blogging. I do have a feeling that I will again some day after we are on our feet and in our own space.

In a nutshell, I am still writing books for a Korean publisher (they keep asking, I keep wanting to say 'no,' I keep saying okay!), and Sejin is working on an online certificate course so he can eventually get a job at a customs brokerage. This is a bordertown, and there are tonnes of brokerages here. If he cannot get a job here in the next few months, we are going to pack up and move elsewhere, probably to Alberta, where there are a lot more opportunities. As you can imagine, there is a lot of uncertainty in our lives right now. I don't like these uncertain times. I miss having my own place. I miss free daycare in Korea. :)

I have been launching a photography business. You can find my photography blog at Sarah Taylor Photography. It's a tough industry to get into these days, especially in this area, where the economy is not doing well. I have done photos for a handful of very happy clients and have a few more things booked for the summer, but I have a feeling that this business would do much better elsewhere. You can also find my business page HERE on Facebook (please like me - I'd appreciate it!). It's funny, I have more "likes" from people in South Korea than in Niagara.... If you want to follow me on flickr, I'm HERE.

Our little angel, Grace, is amazing. Of course, she has no idea how stressed myself and her dad are about the future. Nothing affects 3-year-olds. It's really incredible.

I continue to knit and crochet.... that is my main form of stress relief and I stay up way too late every night doing it. I often post those photos to flickr...HERE is a folder of knit and crochet related photos. This blog is so out-of-date (is that a term?)!

Thanks to those who have expressed concern in personal messages to me. Everything is all right. We are healthy and we will keep working until we have found success here, wherever it might be! Hopefully I will be able to update here with some awesome news soon!